Rochester, N.Y. – RIT used three consecutive goals to overcome a late 3-2 deficit and defeat the Mercyhurst College men's hockey team, 5-3, Saturday evening at the Frank Ritter Arena in Rochester, N.Y. The loss drops the Lakers to 7-10-1 overall and 5-4-1 in Atlantic Hockey play.

Senior Matt Pierce and sophomores Scott Pitt and Steve Cameron recorded two points apiece. Pierce and Pitt netted a goal and an assist while Cameron added to his team-leading point total with two helpers.

After falling behind 1-0 on an RIT goal just 1:29 into the game, the Lakers rallied back with two consecutive scores to take a 2-1 lead. Pitt evened the contest at one when he struck at the 10:00 mark followed by a lamp-lighter from sophomore Mike Gurtler at 17:03.

RIT stole the momentum with under two minutes to play when Taylor McReynolds took a pass from teammate Anton Kharin and beat senior Matt Lundin to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the second period.

Despite the late goal, Mercyhurst regained the lead early in the second thanks to Pierce's seventh strike in four games on the power-play at 3:51.

However, RIT would mount its comeback from that point, scoring twice to take a 4-3 advantage into the finale. Kharin evened the score at 3-3 at 12:19 while Chris Haltigin added the eventual game-winner 79 seconds later at 13:48.

The Tigers closed out the scoring with an insurance goal courtesy of Andrew Favot at 8:01 in the third period.

Lundin stopped 34 shots in his 10th appearance of the season while counterpart Jared DeMichael registered 31 to earn the win. The Tigers finished the game with a 39-34 edge in shots.

Both teams combined for 16 penalties in the game. The Lakers were 1-for-7 on the power-play while RIT was 0-for-5.

The Lakers return to action on Friday, Dec. 19 when Canisius visits the Mercyhurst Ice Center for a 7:05 p.m. contest.